The field of this disclosure relates generally to underground access covers and, more particularly, underground access covers for openings in pavement.
Underground access through pavement is often required. For example, it is common for at least some utilities (e.g., water, gas, and electric lines) to run underneath paved roadways, and the roadways typically have openings in the pavement for accessing the utilities. A removable cover is usually placed over each opening to prevent vehicles, people, and other objects from falling into the opening. However, as a result of improper installation, ground settling, and/or roadway repaving, it is common for known covers to become improperly positioned over time (e.g., covers often loosen in their support frames and/or become severely recessed relative the surrounding pavement).
When a vehicle traverses an improperly positioned cover, an unpleasant noise can be generated, and an undesirable amount of wear-and-tear can be imparted to the vehicle. Additionally, surface water can infiltrate improperly positioned covers, thereby damaging the utilities underneath the roadway. For at least these reasons, it is desirable to periodically repair improperly positioned covers on paved roadways, but conventional repair procedures have been known to be overly labor intensive, time consuming, and expensive. Improvements would therefore be useful.